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According to McClintock’s A Lay of the Land a panoptical time is “ the image of global history consumed – at a glance – in single spectacle from a point of privileged invisibility” To better hash out what panoptical means we will have to look at where it came from. Jeremy Bentham proposed the panopticon: which is a circular structure in which there is a tower placed in the center to be able to watch and observe the walls that encircled the tower. Hence you will be able to look at a single space in a whole at a second times glance. In her article in the section about panoptical time she uses the example of “The Family Group of Katarrhinen: Inventing the Family of Man.” It was a chart that showed how the different types of races actually evolved from a more primitive form of being. So using this chart it can be seen as a panoptical time because it shows the entire chronological history of human development at glance of viewing it.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation has a clear understanding of gender, sexuality, and family in many different parts of the world and helps to provide care that is culturally sensitive. The IPPF offices located in various parts of the world employ workers that are of the native culture, plus staff trained in other parts of the world (mainly the United States). By doing this, the center can most appropriately address the needs of the women and men who utilize their services without assuming they know the intricacies of a local culture when they truly do not. The act of bringing in healthcare workers to an underserved area and providing not only care, but healthcare training and human rights education can spark a change in the way the culture views women, children, gender, and sexuality. IPPF provides reproductive care to women that may not otherwise receive it, and they do it in a way that respects the local customs regarding pregnancy, abortion, STD care, and female genital care. These subjects may seem as if they have a basic standard of care across the globe, but in reality, each of these subjects is incredibly variable, not only from country to country, but even from town to town.

Along with basic healthcare services and healthcare provider training, IPPF also presents education to the public in a way that is informal, informative, and respectful of cultural norms. Where one country may be open to handing out pamphlets with condoms, other cultures may prefer private education sessions with just men, just women, or just families. For many, it is imperative to receive this education, but they do not want be seen as promiscuous or going outside of cultural norms by doing “unnatural” sexual activities. Privacy is also a key factor in IPPF’s activities. One of the major aspects of providing culturally sensitive care is maintaining strict privacy regarding patient’s health status and the services and education provided. Without a strict policy, it is likely that patients would not come to receive care, and the notion that women are not worthy of appropriate healthcare would continue. In addition to this notion, it would also decrease the chances that women who are affected by violence would report the incident and receive care.

Overall, I feel that the International Planned Parenthood Federation shows the world what it means to provide care that is sensitive to gender, sexuality, families, and cultures through its work promoting equal access to care for all and providing education that is available to people at every level.

According to their website’s mission statement, “CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.”[i] Thus understanding militarism, generally, as the predominance of armed forces in the policy of a nation-state, members of CODEPINK aim to place a larger emphasis and allocation of the United States’ resources on the social sphere.

While, today, the organization represents a worldwide network of women and men working for peace and social justice, CODEPINK began with a much more narrow approach. In the organization’s infancy, its major aim was championed by a group of American women who desired to prevent the United States from invading Iraq. In conjunction with other organizations committed to peace, CODEPINK officially kicked off on November 17, 2002 where Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, Diane Wilson, Starhawk and other women set up for a four month all-day vigil in front of the White House. The organization’s name also sheds light on its original aim, playing on the former Bush Administration’s color-coded security alerts (yellow, orange, red) that indicated the level of terrorist threats. Whereas the former president’s alerts were rooted in fear and legitimized violence, CODEPINK is a bold appeal for people to “wage peace.”

Composed of women and men who are outraged by militarism, the organization has expanded its initiatives to encompass a wider array of peace and social justice issues in recent years. Currently CODEPINK affiliates are making their voice heard on their opposition to war with Syria, their pleas for justice to Guantanamo detainees, peace within Iran, and bringing our war money home just to name a few. The organization has not limited their view of social justice and peace to U.S. funded wars, however. Members have also been vocal on the administration’s economic policy such as bailouts given to Wall Street. Instead, CODEPINK famously demanded that bailouts be given to “Main Street,” meaning universal health care, public schools, and the rebuilding America’s infrastructure. That being said, the organization does maintain a large focus on the prevention of U.S. funded wars and adamantly protests the torture of those deemed war criminals. Specifically, members are critical of the so-called “war on terror.” They describe the Bush Administration’s popularly phrased war as having been “the pretext for the US military-industrial complex to metastasize, with steadily increasing budgets to a Warfare State whose representatives declare: “The world is a battlefield.”” Not only do CODEPINK affiliates hope to redirect the mass amount of war money to aid students, small businesses, and those devastated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they view the predominance of a warfare state as irrelevant in today’s changing international system.

In congruence with the organization’s aims and various proposed solutions, CODEPINK makes a key connection between militarism and gender. This connection is perhaps best stated by the organization itself: “CODEPINK is a women-led organization that seeks to empower women politically, creating space for women to speak out for justice and peace in their communities, the media and the halls of Congress. Women are not better or purer or more innately nurturing than men, but the men have busied themselves making war, so we are taking the lead for peace.”[ii] Essentially, members explain warfare as a means of conflict-solving as a primarily patriarchal endeavor. One does not see female leadership pushing to fund new wars, and where one does see female leadership other methods of conflict-solving such as diplomacy and coalition-building are nearly always employed instead. Though CODEPINK’s connection between gender and militarization may seem radical to some, a growing number of political scientists assert there is significant validity to such claims. Thus, CODEPINK’s objective to end militarism might be most effectively reached not only by confronting warmongers in U.S. Congress but by working to increase the number of females politicians overall.

American women who wanted to stop the United States from invading Iraq founded the organization CODEPINK on November 17th 2002. CODEPINK originated from the Bush’s Administration color-coded homeland security alerts. CODEPINK was designed to be an alert to call upon people to “Wage Peace” unlike the colorful threats of red, orange, and yellow that symbolized the justification of violence.

According to the website CODEPINK is a women initiated peace and social justice movement to end United States funded wars and occupations. They are challenging militarism globally and they redirect their resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-inspiring functions. CODEPINK isn’t just for women they also extend a welcoming hand to men as well. But they’re focus and target members are women because they want women to rise up and oppose the global militarism.
They have a statement to welcoming members on the website:
Our Call to You: “We call on women around the world to rise up and oppose the war in Iraq. We call on mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters, on workers, students, teachers, healers, artists, writers, singers, poets, and every ordinary outraged woman willing to be outrageous for peace. Women have been the guardians of life-not because we are better or purer or more innately nurturing than men, but because the men have busied themselves making war. Because of our responsibility to the next generation, because of our own love for our families and communities and this country that we are a part of, we understand the love of a mother in Iraq for her children, and the driving desire of that child for life.”—Starhawk
The organization also has ten guidelines that their members try to follow just a few of them:

1. Nonviolence: We are committed to peace, which means both when executing our action(s) AND within our internal structure and relationships.
2. Clear Goals: We will define CODEPINK’s unique niche in our community (creative protest, cultivating women’s voices, etc.) and set attainable goals for local projects that will further CODEPINK’s peace mission.
3. Communication, Respect, and Integrity: We avow to not let disagreements, hurt feelings, or disappointments, get in the way of our important peace work, and will instead view these challenges as opportunities to practice peaceful and productive communication with each other. We will keep our criticisms concise, specific, constructive and focused on future improvement.
4. Responsibility and Teamwork: We work as a team, with activists willing to bottom-line, coordinate, and facilitate actions. We won’t let all the responsibility repeatedly fall on one person, and we will not allow ourselves to assume all the responsibility for an action—instead we’ll delegate tasks, take on organizing roles, and rotate our leadership positions. We agree to be responsible for something only when we’re 100% sure we are going to do it.
5. Diversity and Tolerance: We embrace feminist principals of cooperation, problem-solving, critical thinking, compassion, analysis and processing. We will speak up against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ageism, and other forms of oppression and prejudice. We will work towards a deeper understanding of our own power and privileges, and seek to cultivate a diverse local group with connections to the array of social justice groups in our cities. We highly recommend that every activist read this piece about recognizing privilege, entitled “Unpacking the Invisible Backpack”
6. Long Term Vision: We are in this for the long haul—we know that the US occupation of Iraq will not end until all the troops come home and successful rebuilding of Iraq has begun, as well as the healing of the returning soldiers and the Iraqi people. In the words of CODEPINK Cofounder Medea Benjamin, “Activism is good for our health and spirits—it keeps us engaged, active, upbeat, and passionate. It’s no fun being depressed alone. Ending war may take a long time, and we can use that time to inspire ourselves and each other with positive, creative actions that embody the world we want to see!”For some of their advocating they have been getting some backlash and harassment everything from email and messages insulting the staff and members. Things suggesting that they all should be run over by trucks, forced to wear burkas, or shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan where they will get what they rightfully deserve. They also keep coming across photoshopped banners slandering their organization stating that they support the murder of American Troops.

Panoptical time is the idea that one can see across all of time from where one is. I find very interesting the idea that a place can be located in a certain chronological time but also at a very different perceived time concurrently. This concept is something I have always known, without actually knowing that there was terminology for it. Beginning in elementary school (and even before) we took field trips to places that were “preserved” and kept as they were during a specific time period, such as Civil War battlefields and Colonel Sanders plantation. These places are meant to be frozen in time to show us what life may have been like. Many other places, however, are unintentionally “frozen in time” and are seen in a very different light. The idea that every location in the world is on the same level regarding technology, ideals, and ways of life couldn’t be farther from the truth, even within a specific location such as the southeastern United States. It would make sense to believe that since the United States is one of the most advanced first-world countries, everyone residing in the US is living within a certain standard. The best example of modern day panoptical time is the area of southern Appalachia. While the surrounding area is as advanced as the rest of the country seems to be, Appalachia in particular is viewed as backwards and as if it is from a previous chronological year. The technology and views of the inhabitants is not what would be considered “modern”. The education level is lower than the rest of the country, and thus the area can be seen as needing to be saved and improved.

This is one of the very ideas that justified the process of colonialism by Europeans. If an area of new land was found, the people who inhabited that land were almost always seen in a backwards, primitive light, giving the colonizers validation for conquering the natives. I can only imagine how it would have felt to come from what was at the time a very advanced society to a land where the people appeared animalistic and barbaric and feeling the urge to “bring them up to speed”. The closest I can relate this concept to today is the work being done in Africa with the thought that what the natives are currently doing is crude, archaic, and needs to be reformed. We can view the rest of the world as being at one point in time while simultaneously viewing Africa in another, though the entire world is at the same point in chronological time.

In connection to Jeremy Benthem’s architectural plan for a Panopticon in prisons, which would allow all inmates to be seen from a central pillar, Anne McClintock discusses the theoretical trope of panoptical time as it relates to discourse on the gendered dynamics of colonization. Employing panoptical time as a tool to further explain the gendered forces of colonization, McClintock describes it as “the image of global history consumed – at a glance – in a single spectacle from a point of privileged invisibility.”[i] When eighteenth century scientific standard needed a visual model to illustrate evolutionary progress as a measurable spectacle, the evolutionary family Tree of Man transpired. Equally important, this tree was attended by a second image: the Family of Man. In this image, progress is illustrated under the form of the family where the complete chronological history of human development can be understood at a glance.

Thus, McClintock explains that with regard to these images and viewing human development through the lens of a Panopticon, time was not just secularized but it was domesticated. What is more, the unification of tree and family into the Family Tree of Man offered scientific racism a gendered view of racial progress. Most importantly, the Family Tree depicts evolutionary time as one without women. It is a disavowal, containing only men, arranged as a linear band of solo males rising toward the apogee of the individual. In this way, the Family Tree and the idea of racial progress- as a way to legitimize colonization by the white European male who is the apogee of progress- was gendered from the very beginning. Viewing history through a panoptic lens only reinforces the gendered dynamics of colonization, as it leaves women invisible as historical agents. Ultimately, then, observing historical progress as an evolving family reduces women to the realm of nature. It places the faculty to consume an entire global reality in the hands of the powerful, which in the case of colonization was the white European male.